The present invention relates to a heat-exchange module comprising a main exchanger and at least one secondary exchanger each including a body provided with fluid-circulation tubes and with clipping means for fixing the secondary exchanger onto the main exchanger in such a way that the same airflow can pass through the respective bodies of the said exchangers.
Such exchangers are generally presented in the form of a body provided with fluid-circulation tubes and with fins for heat exchange with the outside environment. This body is arranged between two manifolds which distribute the fluid into the circulation tubes.
It is known to assemble one or more secondary exchangers onto a main exchanger, such as a radiator for cooling a motor-vehicle engine, so as to constitute an assembly, also called module, ready to be installed into the vehicle. This secondary exchanger most often consists of an engine-supercharging air cooler or of an air-conditioning condenser.
The assembling of the secondary exchanger or exchangers onto the main exchanger is achieved generally by means of lugs integral with the secondary exchanger and of screws inserted into the manifolds of the main exchanger. Systems have also been proposed for assembly by interlocking or clipping of the manifolds.
These known assemblies of primary and secondary exchangers exhibit the drawback of requiring operations which are expensive in terms of time and of tooling.
Moreover, the linking elements between the main and secondary exchangers take up a certain amount of space which impairs the compactness of the module. This is because the manifolds are of a substantial thickness. The thickness of the module is therefore not conditioned by the sum of the thicknesses of the exchanger bodies, that is to say of the assemblies of tubes, but by the sum of the thicknesses of the manifolds, which are substantially greater.
Moreover, these linking elements take up a certain amount of transverse space, and therefore do not make it possible to dispose of the same exchange surface area for the main and secondary exchangers.
The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks.
More particularly, the object of the invention is to furnish a heat-exchange module the production of which, and especially the fitting operations of which, are as simple as possible.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a heat-exchange module which, as far as possible, includes no assembling pieces between the main and secondary exchangers.
The invention further envisages providing a method of producing a heat-exchange module requiring no assembly operations or, where that is impossible, including a minimum number.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a heat-exchange module of lesser thickness than those of the prior art.
A further object of the invention is to provide a heat-exchange module exhibiting enhanced heat-exchange characteristics.
According to the present invention there is provided a heat-exchange module comprising a main exchanger and at least one secondary exchanger, each including a body provided with fluid-circulation tubes and with a clipping device for fixing the secondary exchanger onto the main exchanger in such a way that the same airflow can pass through the respective bodies of the said exchangers, wherein the said clipping device comprise at least one comb-shaped component including:
a fitting device for fitting onto a first of the said exchangers, and at least one first row of teeth exhibiting between them, pair by pair, a gap of a shape corresponding substantially to the cross section of the fluid-circulation tubes of the second of the said exchangers, so as to clip the body of this second exchanger onto the said comb-shaped component in order to fix it to the first exchanger.
The exchangers are therefore assembled by their body, by way of their tubes and of the comb-shaped components.
This results in a simplification of the fitting of the heat-exchange module.
The module may moreover exhibit smaller dimensions. This is because the comb-shaped components can be situated entirely within the space between the bodies and, in this case, not overlap onto the cross section of the exchangers. Moreover, the bodies can also be as close together as is desired.
This therefore also results in a lesser thickness for the module, and the possibility of having available the maximum exchange surface area for each exchanger.
In one particular embodiment, the said means for fitting the comb-shaped component onto the first of the said exchangers comprise a second row of teeth exhibiting between them, pair by pair, a gap of a shape corresponding substantially to the cross section of the fluid-circulation tubes of the first of the said exchangers, so as to clip the said comb-shaped component onto the body of the first exchanger.
In another particular embodiment, the said means for fitting the comb-shaped component onto the first of the said exchangers comprise a set of holes into which are engaged the fluid-circulation tubes of the first exchanger.
The said comb-shaped component may comprise a support strip and teeth substantially in the plane of the strip, the plane of this component lying substantially perpendicular to the planes of the bodies of the exchangers.
In a variant, the said comb-shaped component may comprise a support strip and teeth in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the strip, the plane of the strip lying substantially parallel to the planes of the bodies of the exchangers.
More particularly, the heat-exchange module according to the invention may comprise at least two comb-shaped components, the said components belonging to two sides of a fitting frame configured to accommodate the said heat exchangers by means of the comb-shaped components.
Yet more particularly, the heat-exchange module according to the invention may include a tubular frame with two comb-shaped components, the support strips of which are arranged inside the frame, along two opposite sides thereof, in a central part of these sides in the axial sense.
In one particular embodiment, the comb-shaped component has a stepped feature, preferably substantially parallel to the plane of the exchangers, between the means for fitting onto the first exchanger and the first row of teeth.
The stepped feature may extend over the entire length of the comb-shaped component or only at the ends thereof.
This configuration makes it possible to assemble exchangers of different dimensions.
A further object of the invention is a method of producing a heat-exchange module comprising a main exchanger and at least one secondary exchanger each including a body provided with fluid-circulation tubes, and clipping means for fixing the secondary exchanger onto the main exchanger in such a way that the same airflow can pass through the respective bodies of the said exchangers,
this method comprising the stages consisting in:
producing the said exchangers,
producing at least one comb-shaped component including means for fitting onto a first of the said exchangers, and at least one first row of teeth featuring between them, pair by pair, a gap of a shape corresponding substantially to the cross section of the fluid-circulation tubes of the second of the said exchangers,
fitting the said comb-shaped component onto the first exchanger, and
clipping the body of the second exchanger onto the said comb-shaped component.
In a first implementation of the method according to the invention, the said comb-shaped component is mounted on the first exchanger when the latter is being produced.
In another implementation, the said comb-shaped component is clipped onto the body of the first exchanger after the latter has been produced.